As a part of design industry, it is important for designers to be up-to-date.
How do you guys keep yourselves up-to-date with trends?
Do you think acknowledging different design fields help you to become more creative?
First off, I disagree somewhat with the premise of your question, which gives you away as someone who hasn’t been in the business very long. Right? 
Trends come and go. What’s in style this year will look dated the year after. As a designer, you should aim to be a trendsetter, not a trend follower. It’s far better to design with the needs of the client and the job in mind and not with the notion of being trendy.
Considering all that, it’s still important to keep track of what’s happening by simply paying attention to what you see in the world around you. Personally, when I see a trend emerging, I know it’s time to move on and let others jump on the bandwagon. You definitely don’t want your work to look dated or old-fashioned. You want to make sure your work looks like it belongs to the decade in which it was created. But there’s a difference in styles that gradually shift over time and fleeting trends that, honestly, almost nobody notices except other trend-conscious designers.
Good design is about solving problems for clients. Trendiness doesn’t play into that equation unless the client specifically needs something trendy. Forcing trendiness into something that doesn’t warrant it not only limits your options, it can shortchange a client that needs something to last over time.
Yes. I pay a whole lot of attention to industrial design and architecture, but paying attention to any and all fields of design is a good thing. The broader your knowledge, the better prepared you will be in developing innovative, cost-effective and appropriate solutions to your particular design problems — whatever they might be.
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